Winter Pie

08/01 WINTER PIE

As we crawl out of our wintery beds, hibernating from the world we all need something soul warming. This Shepherds Pie is reflective of two quintessential winter moments. Firstly the warmth of the rich filling and the light comfort of the pillowy potato are a culinary representation of the bed we never want to leave - our warm bodies cloaked in our feathery blankets. Secondly it is also deceptive, the vastness of the white potato hides the richness underneath. Just as waking to fresh snow jars our perception of the familiar view from our windows. 

This pie is not what I would call simple, or fast. However it isn't difficult and just requires the kind of slow Sunday in the kitchen avoiding the world outside. The result for dinner is both rich, moist topped with a crips lightness. Winter is incredibly manageable with this of an evening. Especially with a glass of wine in bed watching a movie. You'll have to get up on Monday so may as well enjoy this as much as possible.


Ingredients (all approximate) - 

400g Beef Mince
1 Onion
4 Carrots
2 Celery stalks
75g Button Mushrooms
1 Can chopped tomatoes
1tbls Tomato paste
Thyme
1 tsp Whole Peppercorns
50ml port/red wine
Beef Stock (diluted in 100ml water)
Salt + Pepper
400g Potatoes
25g butter
50ml Milk
1/4tsp Ground Nutmeg

What I did - 

The Filling: I wouldn't normally divide a recipe in two parts, however this really is the first or two very different stages. Start by dicing all your ingredients in small bowls; the onion, carrot, celery and mushroom. In a heavy based pan begin by browning the beef, to get the excess moisture out. remove from the pan and straight away add the onion and soften. Then add the carrots, brown further. Then follow with the celery and mushrooms. Once they're all giving in to the heat add the salt, pepper, peppercorns and thyme with the port.

Let the first sear of the alcohol burn off and then add the beef stock. Simmer for a couple of minutes to reduce then add the beef back to the pot. Stir through. Finally add the chopped tomatoes & paste, clamp on a lid and simmer on a low heat for about 45 minutes. Turn the heat off and let cool while you move onto stage 2...

The Topping: This can be done immediately after the filling is ready, or can be done half an hour before you want to consume. Peel and chop the potatoes into small pieces. Add to a small pot of boiling water. Boil for 15 minutes until soft. Drain the water keeping the potato in the pot.

Add the butter and roughly mash. When it is mashed but still lumpy, add nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Then add the milk and mash until heavenly smooth. Spread the filling in a wide pie/baking dish. Blanket in the mashed potato and carefully spread to all edges, this will ensure the pie stays moist in the oven. Using a fork scrape a pattern (in this case Twin Peaks inspired) into the potato. The peaks will catch and the entire top will crisp in the oven. If eating immediately bake for about 20 minutes on a high heat, if from cold cover in for and bake for 45 minutes, then grill for 10 minutes to crisp the top.

Damn good pie.

JG

Wilting Summer

05/10 WILTING SUMMER

As summer begins to fade there is an urge to start slowing down and returning indoors. In many respects  this recipe is the perfect manifestation of this feeling of retreat. It could almost be a hot dish, but instead is let to sit and mellow. The scorched leaves allowed to settle with a cooling douse of citrus. Then in a nod to the imminent winter they are paired with some roasted walnuts. 

Both warm and comforting yet light and cooling – it is autumn on a plate. I don’t have much more to write about this because I’m too sleepy. The sun has set and winter is coming, but not too soon.


Ingredients (all approximate) - 2 Chicory
1 Fennel
50g Walnute (chopped)
1 Orange
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

What I did - 

Get a wide pan, or griddle smokingly hot. slice the fennel into thin bands and dry fry them until they begin to wilt and char. Take them off before they melt away and set aside in a salad bowl. Cut the chicory in half lengthways and blister them face down until they do the same. Turn them over and blister again.

Add the chicory to the salad bowl. In the dry pan add the chopped nuts and 'roast' them for a couple of minutes until hot. Leave in the pan until the end.

Grate a few strands of thin orange rind over the salad. Juice have the orange (no seeds or pip) and add. Liberally douse with olive oil, salt & pepper. Mix the warm greens through so that it's all slicked in orange and oil. Scatter the roasted nuts on top.

Ready for a mellow evening.

JG

Narco Nachos

13/09 NARCO NACHOS

Apologies for my absence. This is generally the feeling after August leaves us be. The Leo season is over. Parties have all but ceased. The chance for recuperation. As the main perpetrator of the hangover, I must also apologise.

This recipe is a culinary token of my gratitude to those who held me up and kept me going through the month. Week after week and weekend after weekend. It's hard to remember details, but then all come floating back like the embers of a fire returning to earth. These punchy nachos will help you through recovery and kick you back into life.

Ingredients (all approximate) - 

1 Packet Nachos (chilli flavour)
1 Jar Salsa (spiciness to taste)
200ml Sour Cream
1/2 Onion
4 Tomatos (diced)
1 buffalo Mozzarella


What I did - Oven preheated to 200 OR grill on high

While Nachos theoretically are a 1-2-3 kind of recipe. This steps it up a level, but nothing too strenuous. Firstly empty the packet of corn-chips (i find that mildly flavoured ones boost the excitement) into a wide raised dish so that they sit about 3-4cm thick.

Empty the jar of salsa on top of the chips, spread around but leave a ridge of chips around the rim. On top of this scatter the diced tomatoes over the whole dish. On top of this grate the gooey mozzarella into the peak of this corn chip mountain.

Grill or bake the dish until the mozzarella is blistered and the visible chips are on the verge or charred. Mix the finely dived onion with the sour cream and dollop as the cooling summit of this spicy hot volcano. Eat with your fingers and a cold beer. Recovery. Your brain will catch up soon.

JG

Leo Catch

13/08 LEO CATCH

Hear us roar. Or Purr. The Leo’s are out for the kill. In this case a very boujie hunt at an over-priced but fabulous food store. This recipe is old-time fabulous and decadent to the extreme. Exactly how the Pride of Leo’s take on the world. We are fabulous and decadent to the extreme, and in our season there is nothing that will hold us back. 

This recipe is this Leos favorite, raw meat, a slathering of flavours makes it irresistible. This version is vaguely Japanese inspired, half sashimi half steak tartare. The heady mix of Japanese oils and prices plays perfectly with the tang of the Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Breaking the perfect yolk through the raw meat is one of life’s most satisfying pleasures – causing a squeamish reaction from half of you only heightens the thrill. This is so very delicious, with a dry stiff drink, a perfect way to toast the leo Pride.

Ingredients (all approximate) - 

250g Steak (lean)
1 Egg
1/4 tsp Wasabi
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp Black Sesame Seeds
1/2 tsp Japanese Chilli Powder (a sprinkle more to finish)
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Tabasco
1/2 tsp minced onion
Salt + Pepper

Crisps & Martini to serve


What I did - 

This is an assembly recipe, no heat required. Take the steak and give it a good beating. Once it's tender, but not beaten to death finely dice into small quarter centimetre cubes. In a small mixing bowl mince in the onion. Add the wasabi, sesame oil, seeds, chilli, tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Stir through thoroughly until all the meat is slicked in the mix. Taste and season with salt & pepper (hold back a bit to add when finishing).

Press the mix into a small bowl and cling film in the fridge for half an hour or so to set and macerate.
In the meantime sedate yourself with a martini.

Take the bowl out of the fridge and leave to warm up for about 5 minutes. scatter some green on a plate and then turn out the tartare. Using a fork, press out and make a small depression in the centre. Separate the egg yolk and gently rest on the meat. Season with the chilli powder, salt and pepper. This takes it from looking like cat-food to something deliciously savage.

Perfect as is. Better with plain crisps on the side. Best with a second Martini. It's the leo season, allow the inner savage out.

JG

Jammed

09/08 JAMMED

This - for me - is absolutely eating the forbidden fruit. I have always longed to know what the appeal of peanut butter is, and being an allergic one, have never been able to indulge. Until now. I have discovered my equivalent in Almond Butter. So please indulge this "recipe" and let me have this moment of pure bliss.

The blackberry jam is probably the only cooking that need happen, and was only because there happened to be a very fruitful blackberry bramble in the front garden. I collected all the fruit it spawned and couldn't eat them quick enough - found myself in a jam. This recipe is really a revelation, my coming-out and learning that I do really love nut butter. Jokes aside, this is beyond deliciousness and I'm very sorry to have discovered it.

Ingredients (all approximate) - 

Good Sourdough Loaf (like really really sell-your-soul good)
250g Blackberries
250g Castor sugar
Crunchy Almond Butter


What I did - 

I know that toast is not a recipe. But this is more an assembly instruction then recipe.

The only cooking required is the jam (which you can buy, but i'm feeling domestic). Boil the berries and sugar together in a small pan for about 10 minutes until glistening, scalding and thick. Allow to cool in the pan and then transfer to a couple of (sterilised) jars. Use a small bit of baking paper to seal under the cap.

Cut a hearty slice of the bread. Toast as desired (slightly just past golden is perfect here). Spread the heady nut butter thick on the bread. Let a heaped tablespoon of the jam fall on to and allow to drip through the bread down the sides.

Eat in bed with some early morning viewing. I have just discovered heaven and it tastes so good.

JG

A Leg Up

31/07 A LEG UP

Absolute comfort. I feel the best culinary route to extreme contentment is a chicken. In any form it brings instant gratification and warmth. This recipe is a kick-off-your-shoes and get seriously comfortable. It is packed with mellow flavour, only lightly salted. It is in essence a baked casserole, but using drumsticks means that extracting the meat from the sauce is incredible clean and easy. 

The mean on the drumsticks remains so incredibly moist, cooked submerged in a light and heady sauce. The mellowness of a charred leafy vegetable is a heady compliment to the lightness of the meat. Together they are warm, delicious and mellow. I feel serving this to friends you can truly exclaim Bon appetit!

Ingredients (all approximate) - 

1kg Chicken Drumsticks
1 Can Chopped Tomato
50g Olives
Thyme
1 Carrot
1 Fennell
2 Chicory
Preserved Lemons (or plain old Lemon)
Salt + Pepper
Olive Oil


What I did - Preheat Oven to 200

Evening fiddling. Not an involved recipe at all. Start by browning the chicken on a griddle or dry pan.
When they colour lightly gold transfer them into a deep baking dish - bones up. Peel and chop the carrot and tumble across the chicken with the olives. Open the tomatoes and drown the dish. The chicken should be half covered. Liberally add pepper, thyme and a couple of slices of preserved Lemons. Cover and bake for 1.5 hours until bubbling away (don't worry you can't overcook this).

While the chicken is cooking prepare the charred greens. Divide the Fennel and Chicory lengthways and char on the same griddle as the chicken. Shouldn't need any oil as the chicken will have left enough. Once wilted and blackened transfer to a shallow baking tray. Salt & Pepper lightly and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Throw into the oven for the last hour or so with the chicken. Once it's all ready, leave to sit for about 15 minutes. This is best on the hot side of warm, rather than scalding. Serve up a half charred vegetable with a couple of drumsticks and some broiling sauce. Best eaten watching a storm outside.

JG

Summer Catch

26/07 SUMMER CATCH

Returning to something after a time away is always approached tentatively. Seeing your past again. Returning home. Restarting a project. Can seem daunting. But you have to start somewhere, and where better than in the midst of summer. Not a scorching, skin melting summer - a light breezy ethereal afternoon.

This dish is inspired by the soothing comfort retreating to a cool room after a day in the sun. It is both light yet filling, cool and full of heady flavour. Paired with a bottle of wine and some company there isn't much else I would rather - altogether cheekily playful.

Ingredients (all approximate) - 

2 Salmon Fillets
1/2 Cucumber
1 Romaine Lettuce
1 Avocado
1/2 Fennell (or celery if preferred)
Bunch Fresh Dill
1tbls Hot Mustard
1tbls Mayonaise
1/2 tsp sugar
1tbls Gin
Preserved Lemons
Salt + Pepper
Olive Oil


What I did - 

Nothing too involved, simply salt and pepper the two Salmon fillets. Place a couple of slices of preserved lemons (or thin fresh if you don't have - I mean who really does) on top and then lightly oil. Wrap the top of each fillet with a leaf of lettuce - this will help the fish heat all the way through but retain the moisture.

grill under a hot grill for about 20 minutes until the lettuce is charred and the fish coral-pink. Leave out of the grill to cool while you prepare the salad.

Which is so easy it barely needs instruction. Shred the lettuce into a bowl, scoop curls of avocado, slice the cucumber and fennel (medically thin) and then dice the dill over the top. In a jar shake the mustard, mayonaise, gin, sugar, pepper violently together until it has emulsified into a pale gold.
Turn the dressing through the salad well and spread in a serving dish.

Add the two Salmon fillets to the top. Eat relaxed, on the floor (indoor picnic) with a glass of wine.
Summer bliss.

JG